''Golden Days for Boys and Girls'' was a late 19th-century children's story paper, distributed weekly as an accompaniment to the paper ''Saturday Night''. Running from March 6, 1880, to May 11, 1907, ''Golden Days'' cost subscribers $3 a year. It was the brainchild of newspaperman James Elverson (1838–1911), who later owned the '' Philadelphia Inquirer''. The first printing of this paper had an output of three million copies, and by the second number, had 52,000 subscribers. According to a newspaper advertisement in 1885, the 16 page weekly had a circulation above 70,000 by this year. Another ad circa 1888 puts the number somewhere between 110,000 and 120,000 weekly sales, being distributed from coast to coast in the United States. ''Golden Days'' featured stories, activities and lessons which were mostly gender-specific, with separate stories appealing to boys and girls. Many of the stories were serialized over several issues; a measure designed to drive increased weekly sales. The themes largely involved school, athletics, westerns and the frontier, travel, exploration, adventure, the sea, and success stories. The paper also included a weekly puzzle page, Puzzledom; a section for advice and responses to the young readers, the Letter Box; and a weekly Bible lesson and devotional titled "International Lessons", provided by such persons as Rev. D. P. Kidder, D. D. and Rev C. E. Strobridge, D. D. Certainly, this paper's contents catered to parents and clergymen, offering alternative material to the violence and debauchery of the 'blood and thunder' dime novels, such as those published by Frank Tousey and

Norman Munro Norman Leslie Munro (1842–1894) was a Canadian-American publisher. In 1873 Munro established the New York ''Family Story Paper'', which gained a weekly circulation of 325,000. He also published ''Boys of New York'', ''Our Boys'', ''Munro' ...

List of authors

This is not a fully comprehensive list of authors. * Horatio Alger, Jr. * L. E. Bailey * William Perry Brown * Wilton Burton * Harry Castlemon * William Pendleton Chipman * Frank H. Converse * George H. Coomer *

John Russell Coryell Nick Carter is a fictional character who began as a dime novel private detective in 1886 and has appeared in a variety of formats over more than a century. The character was first conceived by Ormond G. Smith and created by John R. Coryell. Cart ...

* John W. Davidson *

Edward S. Ellis Edward Sylvester Ellis (April 11, 1840 – June 20, 1916) was an American author who was born in Ohio and died at Cliff Island, Maine. Ellis was a teacher, school administrator, journalist, and the author of hundreds of books and magazine ...

* W. Bert Foster * William Murray Graydon * Edward Greey * Charles H. Heustis * Fred E. Janette * Dr. Willard Mackenzie *

L.M. Montgomery Lucy Maud Montgomery (November 30, 1874 – April 24, 1942), published as L. M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for a collection of novels, essays, short stories, and poetry beginning in 1908 with '' Anne of Green Gables''. She ...

* Emma A. Opper * Oliver Optic *

James Otis Kaler James Otis Kaler (March 19, 1848 — December 11, 1912) was an American journalist and author of children’s literature. He wrote under the name James Otis. Life and career Kaler was born on March 19, 1848, in Winterport, Maine. He attended Pu ...

* Celia Pearse * St. George Rathborne * Evelyn Raymond * Victor St. Clair * Edward Shippen, M.D. * James H. Smith *

Frank R. Stockton Frank Richard Stockton (April 5, 1834 – April 20, 1902) was an American writer and humorist, best known today for a series of innovative children's fairy tales that were widely popular during the last decades of the 19th century. Life Born i ...

Edward Stratemeyer Edward L. Stratemeyer (; October 4, 1862 – May 10, 1930) was an American publisher, writer of children's fiction, and founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate. He was one of the most prolific writers in the world, producing in excess of 1,300 ...

Rose Hartwick Thorpe Rose Hartwick Thorpe (July 18, 1850 – July 19, 1939) was an American poet and writer, remembered largely for the narrative poem, '' Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight'' (1867), which gained national popularity. It was translated into nearly every lan ...

* Mary T. Waggaman * Matthew White, Jr. * John H. Whitson * Fannie Williams * Ernest A. Yong

References

External links

{{Portal, Children's literature
Golden Days: for Boys and Girls at the Digital Library@Villanova University
Children's magazines published in the United States Defunct magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1880 Magazines disestablished in 1907 Magazines published in Philadelphia Newspaper supplements Weekly magazines published in the United States